Facebook surprised just about everyone when they announced a $1 billion buyout of social photo sharing service Instagram and now we have come to learn that it wasn’t just outsiders who were surprised. According to insiders Mark Zuckerberg didn’t tell the company’s board of directors that he was preparing to buy the photo sharing service.

In a recently released report it was discovered that Zuckerberg and Instagram founder Kevin Systrom sat down for three days worth of talks at Zuckerberg’s home at which point the Facebook CEO talked Systrom down from an initial asking price of $2 billion to $1 billion.

Eventually Zuckerberg called in Facebook’s director of corporate development Amin Zoufonoun to help firm up the details of the buyout at which point the deal was all but done.

While the Facebook board of directors eventually agreed to the deal and voted to buy Instagram it was largely a symbolic gesture since Mark Zuckerberg owns majority voting rights thanks to his 57% ownership in the company.

If you’re wondering what was going through the minds of Facebook’s board members when they decided to fork over $1 billion for Instagram, the answer is a big fat nothing. That’s because the board of directors didn’t play a role in OKing Facebook’s biggest acquisition ever, reports the Wall Street Journal, which spoke to several sources who reveal that Mark Zuckerburg and Instagram honcho Kevin Systrom essentially hashed the deal out themselves over three days in meetings at Zuckerberg’s home. By last Sunday morning, Zuck had talked Systrom down from $2 billion to $1 billion; that was the morning he also clued the board in on his plan.

If anyone still needed proof that Facebook is a one man show they need only look at the purchase of Instagram.

Author: Dan Evon

Dan Evon was born, raised, and currently lives in Chicago. He is the Editor-In-Chief at Social News Daily. Over the last six years Evon has helped build several web platforms to millions of monthly readers. Dan is an expert is social media platform building and a freelance content consultant specializing in trending, evergreen and news content.